PROMPT Therapy

PROMPT® is an acronym for Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets.

PROMPT is a language-based treatment approach that provides tactile-kinesthetic cues to the speech articulators to help the client produce accurate speech production at the sound, word, phrase and sentence level.

Aliza Heller, M.S. CCC-SLP is PROMPT Certified, and uses the technique to help children with a wide range of speech and language difficulties.

What does it mean to be PROMPT Certified? PROMPT Certified clinicians have completed all of the PROMPT training (Introduction, Bridging, Practicum, and Certification Project), and have demonstrated their effectiveness in using all of the different facets of the PROMPT technique in practice. The Certification Project is a 4-month project that demonstrates they have mastered the theory and knowledge behind the PROMPT technique. To complete certification, SLP’s submit video demonstrations of actual technique, on a patient, that demonstrates their effective use of PROMPT and the patient’s progress over a 4 month time period.

How is PROMPT Therapy different from traditional speech therapy?

PROMPT is a tactile-kinesthetic approach in which the SLP uses touch cues to a patient’s speech articulators (jaw, tongue, lips) to manually guide the client through a targeted word, phrase, or sentence. While traditional therapy relies on the auditory and visual modalities for learning, PROMPT adds a third modality—touch. Most people learn best when more modalities are stimulated.

PROMPT is a holistic approach. It understands that no change can be made without involving all domains: social-emotional (how needs are expressed, interaction with others, etc.), physical-sensory (motor, what the mouth can do, muscle tone, etc.), and cognitive-linguistic (basic concepts, receptive and expressive language, etc.). This is because when a client’s system is unbalanced, deficits in one domain affect other domains. PROMPT creates a treatment plan that addresses all the domains.

PROMPT is a language-based approach. A child with a language disorder in addition to speech issues will have language goals incorporated with physical-sensory goals (how the articulators should move).

How it works:

In PROMPT speech therapy the client listens to instructions, watches the therapist’s mouth movements, and feels what their muscles are supposed to be doing in order to produce each sound, word, or sentence. This is done at specific points on the face, with various amounts of pressure, but never in a client’s mouth.

A PROMPT trained speech therapist will provide cues to stimulate all three modalities for learning- the auditory, visual, and tactile modalities. For some kids, touch cues given with PROMPT therapy provide the input they need to succeed.

How do children respond to/tolerate touch cues?

Most clients actually like the touch input. Therapy is not simply a long articulation drill. Each 45 minute session contains 2-3 play and/or literacy activities which are used to incorporate each individual child’s speech and language goals . When children are having fun in therapy, they often aren’t focusing on the fact that the therapist is touching their face! Usually kids get used to the idea fairly quickly.

How are parents involved in the therapy process?

Parents often come in worried and confused about where there child is holding. After a proper evaluation and development of a thought-out therapy plan, parents usually leave the first meeting with more clarity and focus on our goals and starting point in the therapy process.

Moving forward after the evaluation, parents are the best “cheerleaders” for their child! Home carryover practice is important, and we celebrate the child’s achievements. All those baby steps are incredible, and our children are working hard! Acknowledging that boosts their confidence and helps you stay positive and appreciate all the successes.

I also encourage parents to be active participants in their child’s therapy. Questions and suggestions are always welcome and parents feel comfortable letting me know what they feel is important or functional for their child to learn to do.